Corner guide for paint roller



Oct. 26, 1965 G. c. SHAFER CORNER GUIDE FOR PAINT ROLLER Filed Aug. 9, 1963 6010/ 1? a 51529;? M, m WWW United States Patent 3,213,477 CORNER GUIDE FOR PAINT ROLLER Gordon C. Shafer, P.O. Box 103, Lyons, Ill. Filed Aug. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 301,054 4 Claims. (Cl. -248) The present invention relates to a guide for enabling paint to be applied by a roller to the corner or junction between two walls without smearing the adjacent wall.

Although rollers for applying paint to large surfaces such as walls have been popular for many years, it has remained impracticable to use such rollers along corners. Depending upon the skill of the painter, the roller might be used for .applying paint to the bare wall surface up to within an inch or perhaps a half of an inch of the adjacent wall, or other corner-forming surface, but for that last strip it was necessary to lay down the roller and pick up some other applicator. Special padlike applicators for corners have been developed. At their very best, however, they are considerably slower than using the roller would be. In addition, the mere use of any additional tool which must be carried around and separately cleaned is a nuisance.

According to the present invention, a corner-guide is swivelly attached to the end of the roller and enables the paint to be applied by the roller itself substantially to the corner, without smearing or marring the adjacent surface. The guide comprises, in addition to its swivelling attachment member, a plate provided with rollers which hold it off of the wall except at the very corner, the plate flaring outwardly so that it engages the walls only along the corner, or junction between them, and allows the nap or fibers of the paint applying roller to spread out to this corner.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention may be apparent from the following description and from the drawings.

Designation of figures FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of the invention applied to the end of a paint roller and being used to apply paint along the corner area of a wall.

FIGURE 2 is a face view of the guide seen in FIG. I, removed from the roller, showing the inside face, i.e. that toward the roller.

FIGURE 3 is a composite view showing a section through the guide of FIG. 1, taken approximately on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, shown aligned with but separated from a paint roller, a fragment of which is shown in section.

FIGURE 4 isv a face view of a modification, the face shown being the outside face.

General description As seen clearly in FIG. 1, the guide plate 11 may be affixed to the end of paint roller 12 (swivelly aflixed as will be seen) so that the painter may grasp the handle 13 of the paint roller and move it vertically along the wall surface 14 to be painted whereupon the nap 16 on the roller will be spread by the painting pressure so that it will spread out to the corner 17 comprising the junction between the walls 14 and 18. As the roller 12 is rolled along wall 14, guide plate 11 moves along wall 18. As seen best in FIG. 3, the side of plate 11 adjacent Wall 14 is flared outwardly so that its edge 19 rides in the corner 17. The remainder of plate 11 is held out of contact with wall 18 by this flare 20 and by rollers 21, located beyond the axis of roller 12 from edge 19. One such roller might sufiice but two, located near the corners of plate 11, are preferred.

3,213,477 Patented Oct. 26, 1965 F urther details A convenient way to provide a swivel connection between guide plate 11 and roller 12 is to swivelly mount on plate 19, or on an auxiliary plate 22 to be described, a cup 23 as seen in FIG. 3. With one form of roller 12, this cup 23 may fit inside of an outwardly facing cup 24 at the end of the roller. Preferably the fit is snug enough so that the guide plate 11 will not drop away if the roller 12 is turned with the cup 24 facing downwardly. With other constructions, the swivel cup 23 may engage externally of a portion of the structure of the paint roller, assuming a different construction of the paint roller than that illustrated for paint roller 12; Again, there is preferably a sufliciently tight frictional engagement to hold the two parts together against gravity.

With differ-ent paint rollers the depth of pile 16 varies. Other variations of construction may cause other variations in the dimension T of FIG. 3. Furthermore, different painters may use different pressure in applying the paint roller to the wall. Accordingly, it is desirable to be" able to adjust 'the guide as to the dimension S seen in FIG. 3 so that in use the painters customary rolling action on the wall will be achieved and also the nap 16 will spread out to engage the wall all of the way to the edge 19. To this end, swivel cup 23 is secured to adjustment plate 22. As is indicated most clearly by the elongated slots in FIG. 2, and the slot 27 in FIGS. 2 and 3, the adjustment plate 22 may be adjusted with respect to its spacing from the edge 19 of guide plate 11. It may be secured in its adjusted position by tightening nuts 28 on screws 29. Rollers 21 protrude slightly beyond the heads of screws 29 so as to space these screws safely away from wall 18. Thus, except at the corner 17, wall 18 is engaged only by the rollers 21 which are free-turning and safely avoid any marring of the wall 18.

The rollers 21 may be of a plastic material and may roll smoothly on spindles 31 which may be secured to spacer blocks 32 which in turn are secured to plate 11. Antifriction bushings 33 may be provided to space rollers 21 from contact with all other stationary parts except wall 18 and spindle 31.

Modification FIGURE 4 shows the form of the invention in which the spacing S of FIG. 3 is resiliently self-adjusting, so that no loosening and tightening of nuts such as the nuts 28 is required. This form of the invention may be preferable to many painters, especially Do It Yourself painters who might have some trouble obtaining the best adjustment of adjustable plate 22 in FIG. 3. According to FIG. 4, the swivel cup 23 is swivelly mounted on a spindle stud 36 extending through a slot 37 in guide plate 38. A bar spring 39 secured in stirrups 41 trussed from plate 38 urges spindle 36 to the position shown, namely to the end of slot 37 remote from edge 19. When the guide of FIG. 4 has been applied to the roller and positioned generally as shown in FIG. 1, the edge 19 will engage the corner 17 formed by the wall junction. The painter will now apply moderate pressure to roller 12 through handle 13, flexing bar spring 39, until the roller 12 engages the wall 14 with sufficient pressure to spread the pile 16 so that it contacts Wall 14 right up to the edge 19.

Again, in FIG. 4, the guide will be held entirely out of contact with the walls except for the edge 19 and rollers 21. In other words, both edge 19 and the extreme points of rollers 21 are located far enough beyond the fiat portion of plate 38 so that stud 36 and stirrups 41 are safely spaced from the wall. Of course, a very small clearance is sufiicient. The spacing of edge 19 and the circumference of rollers 21 may be slightly greater than is shown in FIG. 3, if necessary.

A satisfactory angularity for the flange or flare 20, which forms the edge 19, has been found to be 15 degrees from the plane of the flat portion of plate 11. This can probably be varied, but with this angularity, the nap moves smoothly along the surface of the guide plate, and yet readily reaches to the edge 19 thereof.

With either form of the present invention, the only touching up that needs to be done is at the top and a bottom extremities of a corner corresponding in each instance to about half the length of the guide plate 11. Inasmuch as these are points that are visually relatively obscure, no great care is required in matching the surface characteristics of the paint applied, as by a brush, to the remainder of the surface. With these two small and relatively trouble-free exceptions, the entire wall surface can usually be applied by the paint roller with maximum speed and with no variation in surface texturmg.

What I here claim is:

1. A corner guide for paint rollers including a guide plate having on one face thereof a swivel device appropriate for swivelly attaching the guide plate to a paint roller, the guide plate being provided with a flare along one edge and having roller means protruding from the other face of the plate and spaced from said edge beyond the axis of the swivel device, to roll on an adjacent wall at right angles to the wall being painted to space the remainder of the guide plate from the adjacent wall when said edge rides in the corner formed by the two walls.

2. A corner guide for paint rollers including a guide plate having on one face thereof a swivel device appropriate for swivelly attaching the guide plate to a paint roller, the guide plate being provided with a flare along one edge and having rollers near the corners of the plate spaced from said edge beyond the axis of the swivel device, to roll on an adjacent wall at right angles to the wall being painted to space the remainder of the guide plate from the adjacent wall when said edge rides in the corner formed by the two'walls.

3. A corner guide for paint rollers including a guide plate having on one face thereof a swivel device appropriate for swivelly attaching the guide plate to a paint roller, the other face being adapted to run along an adjacent Wall at right angles to the wall being painted and said plate having a thin edge for sliding along the corner formed by said walls; said swivel device being shiftable along the guide plate for spacing the roller axis with respect to said edge for painting the wall up to said edge and means for securing the swivel device with its axis in an adjusted position.

4. A corner guide for paint rollers including a guide plate having on one face thereof a swivel device appropriate for swivelly attaching the guide plate to a paint roller, the guide plate being provided with a flare along one edge and having roller means protruding from the other face of the plate and spaced from said edge beyond the axis of the swivel device, to roll on an adjacent wall at right angles to the wall being painted to space the remainder of the guide plate from the adjacent wall when said edge rides in the corner formed by the two walls;

said swivel device being shiftable along the guide plate for spacing the roller axis with respect to said edge for painting the wall up to said edge and means resiliently urging the swivel device away from said edge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,763,022 9/56 Glacken 15-230 X 2,837,757 6/58 Katanich 15246 2,938,224 5/60 Foulkes 15246 WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CORNER GUIDE FOR PAINT ROLLERS INCLUDING A GUIDE PLATE HAVING ON ONE FACE THEREOF A SWIVEL DEVICE APPROPRIATE FOR SWIVELLY ATTACHING THE GUIDE PLATE TO A PAINT ROLLER, THE GUIDE PLATE BEING PROVIDED WITH A FLARE ALONG ONE EDGE AND HAVING ROLLER MEANS PROTRUDING FROM THE OTHER FACE OF THE PLATE AND SPACED FROM SAID EDGE BEYOND THE AXIS OF THE SWIVEL DEVICE, TO ROLL ON AN ADJACENT WALL AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE WALL BEING PAINTED TO SPACE THE REMAINDER OF THE GUIDE PLATE FROM THE ADJACENT WALL WHEN SAID EDGE RIDES IN THE CORNER FORMED BY THE TWO WALLS. 